


There's Something in the Water

by clarebiscus



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017)
Genre: Caves, Ezra Bridger and Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo's Space Adventures, Lakes, Post-Star Wars: Rebels, a couple references to outbound flight, bonding but like...very slowly, cosmic horror, thrawn and ezras bizzare adventures in wild space, weird Force stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:53:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23741848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clarebiscus/pseuds/clarebiscus
Summary: There's something in the water, something I can see.It almost looks like you, it almost looks like me.
Relationships: Ezra Bridger & Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo
Comments: 14
Kudos: 85





	There's Something in the Water

**Author's Note:**

> wanted to do my own little story about one of Thrawn and Ezra's adventures in wild space, so enjoy!  
> do you want an optimal experience reading this? i wrote most of it while listening to this in one tab https://youtu.be/qEzWqUhnbVA and this in another https://youtu.be/buREx_6YRmc and then adjust their video volumes to my liking so if you wanna get DEEP THEN GO FOR IT!!!!!!!!! I RECOMMEND IT!!!!!!!

It wasn't the sheer size of the cavern that concerned Thrawn. He’d seen caves before, certainly, even rather large ones. He’d seen a great many things recently. What concerned Thrawn was the lake that loomed before them, dark and still, covering the bottom of the cavern with no sign of a distant shore.This was where the issue lay; there was no way across. The twisting and treacherous network of tunnels they had been following for three days had led here, and going back was not an option. Thrawn wasn’t entirely sure they _could_ go back. The tunnels were disorienting, easy to get lost in, and they had had their fair share of close calls already.

Thrawn turned to his companion who deactivated his newly crafted lightsaber, the yellow glow falling away from the slick walls of the cavern. Immediately he could see something wrong in the lines of worry creasing Bridger’s brow, discontent written as clear as daylight in his body language. Without a word the Jedi solemnly walked to shore where the water began. It was serenely beautiful, a sheet of dark glass with only a faint light from somewhere far above catching on the surface. 

Eyes closed, he laid a hand above the water and a small ripple caught the light and set it dancing over the surface. He became still, and Thrawn resigned himself to letting Bridger do...whatever it was he did. After a couple minutes of tense silence his eyes opened and he let out a frustrated huff.

“I can’t sense anything properly! Time has _buried_ whatever’s here, if there’s anything at all. It’s been an age since anyone came here.” He dusted off his pants and stood up. “Good news though! I think I know how to get across. I could faintly sense a sort of ‘bridge’ in the Force, right over the surface.”

“A concerning notion but I see no other option.” Ezra laughed. It came out strained.

“Right. So just follow my steps exactly okay? I don't know how wide the bridge is, it's not as if I can actually _see_ it. But I learned from the best how to _really_ see this kind of thing. We’ll be fine.” With that, Bridger walked into the water. At least-that's what should have happened. Instead, his boots trod lightly over the water’s surface, creating ripples over it. For the briefest moment Thrawn recalled running over frozen lakes as a child, his brother calling wearily after him. The memory jolted him. What a strange time to remember something that may as well have happened in another life. Someone else’s life. Thrawn walked onto the lake.

They hadn’t made it far when Ezra stopped, stiffened, and turned to face Thrawn, his expression indicating he was very serious. Fear was not easy to hide, but he did it commendably, with only his eyes giving him away.

“I sense something else. I don’t know if it’s malicious but it could be dangerous. I don't think….” he trailed off, glancing down before looking Thrawn in the eyes. “I think we need to be careful of the water. No matter what you think you see or hear, **don’t** stop for a closer look, and more importantly; **Don't. Go. In.** ”

“I was not planning on jumping into the lake, but I’ll take it under consideration,” Thrawn said dryly. Jedi vagueiries aside, he knew that Bridger could see things in a way he could not, and he had to trust that whatever presence was in this cave was real and an active threat. So he would not go in the water. Simple.

Step by painstaking step the two continued on their impossible bridge until the shore behind them was no longer in view. Each footfall made a soft wet sound, and sent the light rippling, dancing across the alcoves of the cave until the place was alive with it. As Thrawn stepped forward again movement below the surface caught his eye. Dark shapes, moving through the water far below his feet, but he could barely tell where the shapes began and ended. In fact, they could almost be tricks of the light, casting shadows and glinting on the water-but he knew better. Squinting, he leaned down for a closer look. If he could just-

“Thrawn!”

Thrawn snapped his head up, and with a start realized he had one foot raised to walk completely off their path. Bridger hadn't even turned around.

Thrawn happened a glance down again, this time his eyes focusing on his own reflection. He looked so different-older, with signs of wear and hardship present on his face. There were dark circles under his eyes. Like an illusion the lake had shown him, some lie instead of a hard truth. A ripple went through his face, and it began to warp and distort. When the water became still again he almost leapt back in shock.

The eyes that stared up at him now were not his own.

The hair was styled back, the face reflected back at him was youthful and achingly familiar. It was impossible.

It was Thrass.

-

  
  


Ezra heard Thrawn gasp and whipped around in time to see him step off their course and plunge below the surface, the black depths swallowing him in an instant. _Not good._ There was no choice but to follow. Peering down, the water stared back at him, darkness shifting below it’s glass surface, humming with the force, calling to him, pulling at him, beckoning him. He shook his head. There was nothing in the water. He dove.

-

Impossible. It couldn't be anything but a reflection, and yet it was in front of him, clear even in the darkness, light catching on his sharp features. Thrass was suspended before him, looking the same as he had the day he saw him last.

‘Impossible,” he breathed, not realizing that he shouldn't be able to speak underwater. Thrass smiled gently, the way he would when they were young. So rare to see him like this when they got older, so rare to see anything but tired resignation on his face. 

“You have seen so many impossible things, is this so hard to believe?” That voice. How often had he wished to hear that voice, one last time? How many dreams had he had where that voice called to him, just out of sight, just out of reach? Thrawn was distantly aware that they were sinking, but it seemed so unimportant now. His brother was right. Impossible things had become so commonplace during these last few years. A beast in the sky raining thunder down upon him and his crew, creatures from the far reaches of space destroying a fleet, a weapon that could kill a planet, a Jedi walking over water. Why should this be any different?

“I’ve missed you Thrawn. How different you look, yet still the same.” Thrass reached for his hand. “Come, I have something to show you.”

“I cannot- I have somewhere I need to go.” The hand tightened its grip.

“Where? Surely it can wait. I have waited so long.”

Where? Well he needed to go...where did he need to go? What task could possibly be more important than this? “Please don't leave me, Thrawn.” The unspoken ‘again’ wrapped itself around Thrawn's throat, weighing him down, leaving him with the acrid taste of guilt on his tongue. Thrass pulled his hand and began to lead him down further, further into the dark. “I have something to show you,” he repeated.

The image of Thrass turning away from him made him ache. He held his hand tighter and descended with him. It did not occur to him that he should have run out of air by now. They sank into the dark.

\- 

Ezra searched frantically through the almost pitch darkness. He ignited his lightsaber, the yellow blade cutting through the blackness and illuminating movement far below. _Thrawn!_ With a jolt of fear he saw that a dark shape had wrapped around the man's wrist, pulling him down. The shape which resembled an eel of some kind-though far darker and more nighmare-ish than any he’d ever encountered-had wrapped around his throat as well. Ezra desperately swam downwards as it took him deeper, hoping he could use the Force to gain some air if he ran out. He just prayed it would be enough.

-

  
  


“What is it that you wanted to show me, Thrass? I have questions I need to ask you.”

“And you will have time to ask them! You haven't changed much, have you?” He laughed, sounding slightly more cruel than Thrawn remembered his brother sounding. It was so dark. The glow of his brother's eyes became all he could see, and the weight he imagined around his throat became tighter.

They sank deeper and Thrass began to pull him in another direction. Thrawn couldn’t see where exactly they were, and was thinking of asking when he saw a faint glow and a steady hum emanating from far below.

-

Ezra bemoaned the lack of light, even with his weapon ignited it was easy to lose sight of the rapidly sinking Thrawn. Water pressed down around him, but he held true in the Force, clearing his mind and pushing on. They had not come this far to die. After everything he had gone through he wasn’t about to let it end here because Thrawn fell in a stupid lake. The twisting shape pulled his delirious companion through a small opening in the rock formations. Ezra would have missed it entirely if he hadn't been so singularly focused on his mission. He took a short breath by pulling air from the surface and swam through, knowing this would be his last breath for a while.

-

They must have turned into a separate underwater cavern, since the glow had become brighter and brighter, until it was almost blinding. Infrared sensitive eyes were no advantage, and if he wasn’t underwater they would have stung with tears. It was as if a small sun had been dragged under the surface so deep and so far from the main cavern for as no light to escape. Just how far down were they? Surely he’d only been in the water for a short period of time?

“Isn’t it beautiful? Look at it. Then we can talk all you like.” Thrass’ voice was low and melodic, harmonized with the hum filling his mind.

Thrawn could barely look head on at the blinding glow of this…...underwater sun, and as he attempted to do so a dark eel-like shape swam at the periphery of his vision. With a start he swiveled to look and was met with the smiling face of his brother. The smile felt cruel. Why was that? His brother never looked at him that way...and he looked so young, as if no time had passed at all. Like something out of a memory. Why hadn’t he grown up? Why were his eyes turning from red to black?

“Thrass,” he began, panic colouring his voice, “wh-”

 **_“Look at it. “_ **The weight around his neck tightened and for the first time he felt short of breath. Breath he should have well run out of by now. Thrass gripped his jaw, forcing Thrawn to behold the light, another hand on his neck so he could not look away.

It was bright. 

It hurt to look.

It was so _bright._

It was so… _beautiful._

_It was so…...far._

_I need to touch it._

Entranced, he drifted through the water, mind empty but for the hum roaring in his ears. 

-

  
  


It was almost impossible to look at directly. A huge ball of yellow orange light at the end of the subterranean cavern, like a fiery core. _This was it._ _This_ was the source of the foreboding ripples in the force. _This_ was the thing that time had buried. It was _alive._

And it was _hungry._

_._

Those shapes moved around it, drifting through the water and wriggling like worms. One was wrapped around a humanoid figure-Thrawn! It slowly released its grip to send him drifting towards the light. There was no doubt in Ezra's mind that if Thrawn touched that thing he was dead.

“Thrawn!” he shouted to no avail. His voice was devoured by the hum of the core as it drowned out anything else and pressed on his mind. Something suddenly wrapped around his ankle, wrenching him backwards. Another something shot around his throat. He choked out a strangled cry, air leaving his lungs rapidly. He slashed the inky black form gripping his leg but another replaced it. The humming grew louder, making it hard to think, and the sound began to shift into voices. Voices he recognized.

“Ezra.” His mother called.

No. _No._

He would not let this thing mimic the people he loved most. He knew them. It didn’t. And as far as Ezra was concerned it didn’t deserve to.

“I want you to trust me.” Kanan was in front of him. Smiling gently. Reaching his hand out. “Let’s get out of here kid.”

It hurt so much to look at him, but he had faced this trial before. Whatever this thing was it was feeding off his memories. 

“You can't have him,” he whispered. “These are my memories.” He closed his eyes and let the Force rise around his thoughts, shrouding them and protecting them. The voices faded back into the hum, which grew more deafening by the second. He reached down and yanked himself free of the tendrils, slashing through them as he swam. He would not be too late.

-

It was so bright. 

Thrawn reached his arm forward. He was so close. So, _so_ close. It burned his eyes but he was almost there, almost-

His arm was suddenly wrenched back and as he tried to cry out suddenly he realized he couldn't. His lungs filled with water, and the weight of the water around him pressed down suddenly. The world turned black.

-

“You were talking in your sleep a lot.” Thrawn cracked an eye open to look at his companion, barely managing to contain a groan as the first sunlight he’d seen in days assaulted his senses. He didn’t bother asking how Bridger knew he was awake.

“Is that so?” 

“Yeah. I didn’t know the language you were speaking in though so I didn’t learn any of your secrets. So don’t worry about that."

“I was not particularly worried. Are you going to tell me what happened?”

Ezra turned away from him. “Sure. You jumped in the water.”

This was usually where the ‘I told you so’ would come in, but this time he seemed rather avoidant, trying to keep himself occupied a short distance from Thrawn. So he had gone into the water. Why was that? He had been on the bridge, looked down and-

Thrawn shot upright.

“We need to go back. There is someone-” he stopped short when he saw the look on the others face. It was something like pity. 

“There was no one in the water Thrawn.” 

Anger rose in his chest, surprising even himself. 

“I know what I saw, Bridger, and we need to go back. I will go alone if I must-” 

“No.” There was a note of finality in his voice as he turned to face Thrawn unflinchingly head on. “Look. This will be hard to hear, but I have experience with this kind of thing. Seeing things that aren't really there. _People_ who aren’t really there. It doesn’t get easier. The people I saw in that lake are gone. I know that.” There was a pause before he continued. A silence carrying a truth Thrawn had already known for a long time. “I don’t know who you saw down there but for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.” Thrawn didn’t say anything in response. He didn’t know what else there was to say.

-

“My brother.”

Ezra glanced up at the unexpected statement.

“Hm?”

“I saw my brother in the lake. His name was Thrass,” Thrawn said, looking to the horizon, the pink hue of the setting sun making him look somewhat purple. 

“Oh. You said that name in your sleep.” That was met with only a slightly raised eyebrow which could have meant anything coming from Thrawn. “Sorry. We don’t have to talk about it.” Ezra figured the conversation was over. There was another few minutes of silence, then Thrawn spoke again.

“When we were young, he used to keep a record of how many times he’d said ‘I told you so’ to me.”

“Seriously?”

“He kept a journal.”

“That’s dedicated. I should start doing that.”

“I would prefer you do not.” 

Ezra laughed, and they continued on.

The sky stretched out forever before them, the stars calling both of them home.

\--

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> sorry thrass :'(  
> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!  
> I have one other idea atm for a one-shot about them, so hopefully i can write that too, though it involves more characters! who knows maybe they'll link up with some of their crew and I can have faro there. Also it physically pained me not to bring up eli in this fic but it was not his time!! ezra can needle thrawn about eli in the next one which will have horror elements but im thinking with more humour


End file.
